Samsung turns 70

South Korean conglomerate Samsung is turning 70 years old on Saturday.

The company was founded by Byung-Chul Lee in Taegu, Korea on 22 March 1938. Its first operations involved selling dried Korean fish, vegetables and fruit to Manchuria and Beijing.

A world war and messy regional war later, Samsung became one of the icons of Korea's rapid economic development. Samsung Electronics was established in 1969 and it's been going from strength to strength ever since.

Last year Samsung's revenue exceeded $173 billion and its products and services account for more than 20 percent of South Korea's exports. It currently employs more than a quarter of a million people.